Are we improving?

[tbdana]

There's a belief that whatever level we are at, we can always be better. Is that true?

Has your playing been improving? If not, why not?

I think a lot of us tend to get to a certain place of comfort, and kind of live there. Oh, maybe we try to improve a bit around the edges. Maybe we pay lip service to it. I think that, if asked, we would all say we'd like to be better. But most of us seem to reach a level and basically stay there. Are you just perfectly happy where you're at? I play in a community band with people who love playing and have played for decades, but they haven't improved noticeably in forever. Those folks appear to be perfectly happy with where they are. Frankly, I wish I could be like that. I have a mental illness where I'm never happy with my playing. Ever. I'd love to feel like I was good enough right now.

Maybe you want to improve but aren't. Why? Is it lack of motivation, or time, or access to lessons, or something else? Maybe you've reached a point of diminished returns where the practicing you're doing just isn't making you better anymore and you don't know where to go from here? Maybe you're just tired of working at it after so many years?

Or do you think it's just no longer possible to improve? Is getting better just not something you can accomplish for a physical or age reason? Or can only the more naturally gifted improve?

I've been wondering why it is we all love to play trombone, but we're all at such different levels of ability. Is it all just desire?

[Richard3rd]

There was a thread on another site about playing low brass and if it could improve trumpet playing. It got me thinking because each day I practice at least two instruments choosing from trumpet,flugelhorn, trombone, euphonium or tuba. After reading that other thread, I played each of them back to back and back again. Doing so, I realized that I have improved on all of them appreciably in the last year. Each one has seemed to improve my performance on the others.

So yes, at age 70 still improving.

[AtomicClock]

If all you do is go to community band once a week, it's very easy to keep yourself only just prepared enough for that. I've certainly fallen into that trap before. Putting myself in new playing situations is necessary for the goal-setting that allows for improvement.

[hyperbolica]

I have improved recently. I was working toward a goal which didn't work out, but my playing has improved so I'm not disappointed.

"You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains. You will find a fortune, though it will not be the one you seek. But first... first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell. You shall see a... a cow... on the roof of a cotton house, ha. And, oh, so many starlings. I cannot tell you how long this road shall be, but fear not the obstacles in your path, for fate has vouchsafed your reward. Though the road may wind, yea, your hearts grow weary, still shall ye follow them, even unto your salvation."

O Brother Where Art Thou

[Fidbone]

I think you can improve in the practice room to a certain extent but, I find my biggest improvement comes from playing gigs and being inspired by other great players.
One thing I can attest to is that if I’m feeling like it’s going nowhere on a bad day, stop, put the horn down and have a listening day. There are two ways to go here though 1. You feel like putting the horn in the trash and 2. It inspires you to push ahead.
I choose No.2 every time.

[VJOFan]

Improvement/learning is not a big mystery. Regularly applying gradually more challenging stimulus leads to adaptation. If the change is desirable, we call that learning or improvement. The trick is setting aside the time to apply the stimulus and planning the gradual increase of difficulty.

[chouston3]

I play trombone because it is a marvelous sensory experience for me. I love the way all the different notes feel. I love how chords with a section feel.

I consciously work on improving. I enjoy working my way through curriculums and having a consistent practice schedule.

I have met players and singers who think they are god's gift to music and they are terrible. Horrifically bad and they don't know it. Nobody tells them and everyone just puts up with it. Its like they have lost touch with reality somewhere along the way. In the back of my mind, I am worried this could happen to anyone. So, I record myself and compare my playing with others trying to figure out how I can be better. I always find some little thing I can improve each time I do this exercise. I feel like as long as I stay out of an echo chamber, the nightmare I described will not happen to me.

[StephenK]

I've found in my 70's some things don't quite work as well as they did previously. However, no one has moaned about it, and I do work on things I need to for performance in orchestra, wind band and quintet, all of a decent standard. One worrying aspect is upper range is trickier, not sure why. Might be psychological after a tooth going a couple of years ago. Or just need to get fitter!
Any way, still pretty busy (always an amateur).

[mgladdish]

I've struggled with this over the years, at times going through crises of confidence with thinking my playing wasn't up to scratch. But also having to acknowledge that's a conscious choice - to earn a better living outside music to enjoy fewer gigs but more of the sort I want to do. It's taken a long time for me to come to peace with striving to be the best I can be for the amount of time and energy I have available to invest into it.

[BPBasso]

I've been wondering why it is we all love to play trombone, but we're all at such different levels of ability. Is it all just desire?

I don't know how relatable these are because these are sports. I've shot a good bit of billiards through my years, and played some disc golf when I was younger. Leagues, tournaments, teams, doubles, singles.

I never fully understood the people who never improved. They rarely practiced. They rarely applied any advice given to them. They maintained a steady level of performance the entire time I knew them. But, they always had fun when they showed up and played. They enjoyed the social aspect. They relished the occasional win. The chance to get out of the house and get away from the normal grind. Maybe have a beer or two while they were at it. You don't have to be great at something to enjoy doing it.

My take away from it, I'd rather have someone to play with/against than have to play by myself. I much prefer to play trombone in ensembles than solo. I'll gladly play with, or be, the weaker player if it means we get to create some magic together.

[timothy42b]

I've found in my 70's some things don't quite work as well as they did previously.

At 72 some things are improving incrementally, others get worse. There isn't time to work on everything.

I can play higher than I ever expected to.
And low range response has improved a lot.

Just don't ask me to do both in the same day. And endurance has declined, and joints get creaky from holding the weight.

[Richard3rd]

I've found in my 70's some things don't quite work as well as they did previously.

At 72 some things are improving incrementally, others get worse. There isn't time to work on everything.

I can play higher than I ever expected to.
And low range response has improved a lot.

Just don't ask me to do both in the same day. And endurance has declined, and joints get creaky from holding the weight.

I'm 70 and retired. I have plenty of time for everything. A year ago I had an injury that required reconstruction of a knee. I had two months of no activity. That spurred me to greater and more rounded exercise. I am very goal driven, so each morning it is either the gym or the trail, running and walking. Every afternoon it is practice and finally working in my jazz improvisation. If there is a weakness, work on that. If there is a new instrument to learn, work on that. Retirement means there are no more time excuses.

[Geordie]

Probably been said already, but improvement isn’t linear. For a while we progress, then plateau or go back and progress again. So many physical, mental and social factors in play.
I know from coaching, in a non-musical context, that improvement is associated with an individual’s willingness to seek/take advice from published or personal contact sources, implement it, critically review output against intentions, seek feedback and adjust. Progress is less likely when people keep doing the same thing that ceased to help but with greater frequency, intensity or commitment.
The real improvement skill is in knowing when to change then adopting and adapting the relevant behavior.

[JTeagarden]

I am constantly trying to improve things in my playing that are not to my satisfaction, and the improvements come in fits and starts.

I try to adopt an attitude of always being happy, but never fully satisfied, and try to be conscious of what I do so habitually, I don’t even think about it.

I generally like my progress, and try to be realistic about what I can achieve in the time I have, nothing more frustrating than having unattainable goals, making each day a bit more like my best days is high on my list.

I can’t even imagine playing without the drive to play better, music is amazing if done well.